Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector terminal used for electrical connection between devices equipped in an automobile and so on. The present invention relates further to a connector including the connector terminal, and a resilient piece as a part of the connector terminal.
Description of the Related Art
As a connector into which a circuit board having a terminal at a marginal area of a surface thereof is inserted, there is known a connector suggested in Japanese Patent No. 3669268.
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the connector suggested in Japanese Patent No. 3669268.
As illustrated in FIG. 18, the connector 100 is composed of a first housing 101 and a second housing 102 insertable into the first housing 101. The first housing 101 includes a circuit board 103 having a terminal 104 at a marginal area of a surface thereof. The second housing 102 includes a metal terminal 105 which makes contact with the terminal 104 when the second housing 102 is fit into the first housing 101.
The metal terminal 105 is formed by bending an electrically conductive sheet. The metal terminal 105 includes at a rear end thereof a wire connector 111 to which a wire W can be connected. The metal terminal 105 further includes a hollow connector 116 ahead of the wire connector 111, and a resilient contact piece 109 situated in the hollow connector 116 and bent into substantially a loop.
The first housing 101 includes at a bottom inner wall 106 thereof a pair of pushers 107 extending towards an opening of the first housing 101. Each of the pushers 107 includes at a distal free end thereof a guide surface 108 by which the resilient contact piece 109 of the metal terminal 105 is pushed.
In the connector 100, when the second housing 102 is inserted into the first housing 101, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the circuit board 103 enters the second housing 102 through an opening 112, and then, the pushers 107 enter spaces 114 through openings 113. As illustrated in FIG. 20, as the circuit board 103 forwards in the second housing 102, the guide surfaces 108 push a portion 115 of the resilient contact piece 109. Thus, the resilient contact piece 109 is resiliently deformed towards the circuit board 103. When the circuit board 103 is moved to a predetermined position, the first and second housings 101 and 102 are completely fit to each other, in which condition, the pushers 107 push first bending points 117 of the resilient contact piece 109 towards the circuit board 103 to thereby cause the resilient contact piece 109 to make contact, at a contact portion 118 thereof, with the terminal 104 of the circuit board 103.
However, the above-mentioned connector 100 is accompanied with a problem that when the circuit board 103 deeply enters the opening 112, the guide surfaces 108 push not only the portions 115 to thereby cause the resilient contact piece 109 to be resiliently deformed towards the circuit board 103, but also the resilient contact piece 109 at its entirety into a bottom of the opening 112, resulting in that the resilient contact piece 109 is buckled. If the resilient contact piece 109 is once buckled, the resilient contact piece 109 cannot return back to its initial position, causing a problem that the connector 100 cannot work completely.